Big-wave surf contests are getting hard to come by. Earlier in the week, the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was called off at the last second due to lack of swell at Waimea Bay. If the contest isn’t resuscitated by Feb. 29, it will be the sixth straight year the Eddie wouldn’t go.
Mavericks was headed down a similar path, canceled five times since 1999 and failing to run under the new Titans of Mavericks banner last year. Then came El Niño, and the best swell in five years last week, only to see Mavs go contest-less due to Bay Area’s Superbowl blackout restrictions.
But on Friday, the big-wave contest was back in Half Moon Bay. Actor/model/surfer Nic Lamb charged his way to the inaugural Titans of Mavericks contest title at Pillar Point, holding off second-place Travis Payne of Pacifica and Greg Long of San Clemente to take home the Titan trophy and $120,000. The 2008 Mavericks champion, Long did win $10,000 for the “boldest drop” award, while James Mitchell nabbed $5,000 for the “best barrel.”
Long and Mitchell received some of the biggest roars from the water, and sent a rogue wave of mentions across the social media-sphere from the thousands of viewers watching the RedBull TV live stream.
After the offshore spray finally settled, it was Lamb who took the title after consistently charging from deepest, heaviest position all afternoon.
“I’m over the moon,” Lamb said. “I can hardly believe it. It feels really good. Any time this wave breaks, it is life or death, man versus nature, Mount Everest meets Niagara Falls.”
Ken Collins went over the falls in the first round, going for the “boldest drop” despite sitting in second place with two qualifying waves recorded in the morning session. Partway down the face, Skindog took the lip of the wave on the back and the fan favorite from Santa Cruz suffered one of his worst wipeouts at Mavericks. The impact ruptured his left eardrum and knocked him from the event. Fortunately, Collins was wearing an inflatable life vest, which helped him reach the surface inside despite his equilibrium getting thrown off.
“I had a couple waves under my belt and I needed a big one, and a big one came to me,” Collins said. “It didn’t look really clean, but I forced it and went anyway. About two-thirds the way down, I thought I had it, then I felt the whole ocean land on me.”
While the conditions were choppier and sometimes smaller than some had hoped, Collins’ wave and a handful of harrowing airdrops into the bowl did plenty to wow the few fans on hand.
Lamb also had a scary wipeout in the morning session, stuck on the inside for the better part of three waves before a Jet Ski could fish him out.
“That’s what I train for,” said Lamb, familiar with the break, having grown up in Santa Cruz and surfing Mavericks since the age 14. “Sometimes you’re going to take your spills.”
A few hundred spectators and media took in the event from the water, paying anywhere between $250-$600 a head to watch from the two dozen charter boats located just outside the break.
Along with 250 event staff, the charter boats – and a handful of kayakers, paddleboarders and free surfers – were the only fans able to watch the event in person. Everyone else had to watch the live feed by RedBull TV.
It made for an odd scene for locals familiar with the break: Few actual surfers in the lineup, and the dirt parking lot void of trucks and big-wave guns on a day that would otherwise be overrun by local surfers and beachgoers.
But after a sneaker wave washed spectators off the harbor wall in 2010 and injured more than a dozen people, officials closed off access to the beach during big-wave events.
On Friday, the only way to watch the event in person was by water or air, as helicopters were buzzing about the whole day, adding to the carnival atmosphere in front of Pillar Point Air Force Station.
Even with all of the spectacle and his own brutal wipeout in the morning, the 28-year-old Lamb was able to tune out the noise and catch one of his best waves in the fog-laden final.
Long landed an unbelievable airdrop late, but the wave came well after the final horn sounded and Lamb was able to secure the trophy in the 10th overall running of a big-wave contest at Mavericks.
“My last wave that I caught felt like a really good wave,” Lamb said amid reporters, fans and competitors at the dock. “These guys are the best in the world, so it feels good to be on top.”
See more from Brian Milne on ChasingSurf.com and on Twitter.
